In a consumer friendly move, India’s telecom regulator TRAI has more than halved the interconnect usage charge from October 1 and said the fee would be scrapped from 2020. However, several companies have objected to the ruling. TRAI Chairman RS Sharma talks to ET Now about the new IUC, the position of telecom companies on the issue and the benefits of the new rule.

"Poke Me" is a Saturday edit page feature in The Economic Times. This feature appears first every Wednesday morning on www.economictimes.com. Best comments from readers will be reproduced on the edit page of the Saturday edition of the newspaper. So be poked and fire in your comments to us right away.

While it is important to have appropriate level of deliberations on the impact of actions, getting the science right may not be that important in overall perspective. I believe two things have powers to transform. One is public awareness and this needs to be rooted through our education system. Pro nature attitude and activities needs to be cultivated in the people at large right from their schools. This should have greater emphasis in the overall learnings. The ''rally for rivers'' can make huge impact if done effectively and publicized well.Second is the administrative actions. Policy formulation and its effective implementation is key to any transformation change. Political will and constructive role of opposition parties can do wonders to the country.

Mayank Biyani (Banswara)

NGOs should cultivate a "fire of wisdom" within their goals and operations. NGos like ISHA Foundation provide that fine balance between science and spirituality, with compassion and fire of wisdom in their approach.Let us not criticize them just with scientific data Instead NGOs like Ashoka Trust should add their scientific details to supplement their sincere efforts.

By VENKAT ATLURI ET AL We’ve all experienced businesses that once seemed disconnected fitting together seamlessly and unleashing surprising synergies: look no farther than your smartphone, your music and video in the cloud, the smartwatch on...

By Tushar Bhatia Etal The ability of technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) companies to create value is extraordinary. TMT companies generate more economic profit (net operating profit less the cost of capital) than any other...

By Jon Sobel Manufacturers are looking very systematically at everything they do, from the methods they use to make things to technologies like 3D printing and additive printing, all the way to their business models....

By Sergey Asvadurove et al Today, the very largest and most complex projects command budgets exceeding $5 billion and require more than five years for design, planning and construction. The sheer scale of such projects...